Glenbard West’s Kristi Faulkner knew what everyone must have been thinking.
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The Hilltoppers had to face No. 1 Marshall in the Class AA semifinals at Redbird Arena on Saturday. They were facing a Marshall team seeking to make its first championship game appearance since 1994.
“A lot of people didn’t expect us to do much,” Faulkner said.
All Glenbard West did was take a 34-27 halftime lead and push Marshall to the limit before falling 64-59.
It’s not as though Faulkner, the Illinois-bound senior, was just happy to get this far. She scored 17 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 25.
“Anytime you lose it’s frustrating,” Faulkner said. “It’s hard to take any loss.”
Glenbard West was supposed to play Marshall in January, but a scheduling conflict led to the cancellation of that game. To get their shot at coach Dorothy Gaters’ team, the Hilltoppers had to beat Salem on Friday.
Shot is the operative word, with the Hilltoppers shooting 50 percent from the field against Marshall’s swarming defense for the halftime lead. Jessica Wilhite nailed a three-pointer with 8 seconds left for the margin.
Glenbard West coach Jim Pecilunas said that everything that had to go right did for his team in the first half. In the second half, Marshall’s Kimya Murray scored 11 of her 14 points and Glenbard West missed some critical shots to let the game get away.
“We certainly don’t like to see anyone score 25 points against us,” Gaters said. “But she (Faulkner) certainly earned them.”
Kourtney Walton led the Commandos with 22 points and Cappie Pondexter added 16.
The game that never was: Marshall, which lost in the 1997 and 1998 semifinals to Loyola, apparently would have liked another shot at the two-time defending champs. That would’ve come in the title game, but Galesburg ruined those plans Friday.
Gaters said she was glad the Commandos had the opportunity to play the Ramblers this year, in the Chicagoland Prep Girls Classic in January. Marshall won that one 54-40 and answered a burning question for Gaters: “Can we really beat this team?”
“We were able to get some satisfaction,” Gaters said.
High marks: All four of Glenbard West’s seniors (Wilhite, Faulkner, Maureen Draths, Erin McMaster) have 4.0 grade-point averages. Marshall junior Pam Wilson also has a 4.0 GPA and has been ranked first in her class for three years.
Get your tickets: Galesburg led the eight quarterfinalists with the most advanced tickets sold with 1,215. Two-time defending champion Loyola had the fewest number in advanced ticket sales with 136. Ticket sales for the rest of the schools were Salem (851), Lincoln (784), Glenbard West (779), Waubonsie Valley (754), Lyons (312) and Marshall (181).
All-state team: Eight players from the Chicago area were named to the first-team all-state team selected by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. Those players were Olga Gvozdenovic and Laura Sobieszczyk (Loyola), Faulkner (Glenbard West), Alicia Ratay (Lake Zurich), Walton and Pondexter (Marshall), Shavonna Hunter (Hillcrest) and Ashley Luke (Waubonsie Valley).
Local players named to the second team were Stacey Byrd (Waubonsie Valley), Nicci Piech (Lincoln-Way), Maggie Fontana (Fremd), Laura Milkert (York), Karen Hagberg (Palatine) and Constance Jinks (Morgan Park).
Representing the third team were Lynell Davis (Fremd), Julie Just (Maine West), Sarah Kustok (Sandburg), Brittany Larson (New Trier), Katie Meyers (Lyons), Kimya Murray (Marshall), Katie O’Grady (Fenwick), Melissa Oliver (Glenbard North), Charliss Ridley (Wheaton Warrenville South), Katie Romey (New Trier) and Jackie Shook (West Aurora).
Three-point shootout: Ottawa High’s Tracy Farrell made 10 three-pointers to run away with the Class AA Three-point Showdown title. Fremd’s Maggie Fontana and Loyola’s Laura Sobieszczyk tied for second with six each.
Class A Three-point champion Molly McDowell of state champion Nokomis defeated Farrell Saturday night for the “Queen of the Hill” championship. McDowell made nine three-pointers; Farrell connected on five.
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